“How so?”
“He learned how to get drugs from more creative places, which led to more and more cravings and more arguments.”
Thatch didn’t say anything. He just sat there listening silently as I continued, “I’d tried helping him, but time and time again, he chose the painkillers over Cat and me. When Trevor started not coming home for days at a time, I’d decided I was done. I packed our bags, and when he slipped off to buy more drugs, I started loading our things into the car. I was almost finished when he came home.”
“I take it he wasn’t happy about you leaving?”
“No, not at all. We immediately began fighting, and it got ugly fast. He started pulling our bags out of the back of the car and tossing them on the ground, so I went inside to get away from him.”
“And where was Cat during all this?”
“She was waiting for me up in her room and had no idea the hell that was about to ensue downstairs. And neither did I.” I shook my head. “I never dreamed things would get so bad.”
I could feel the mixture of emotions building inside me—emotions I was trying desperately to keep at bay. I took several deep, cleansing breaths, then asked, “You know how they say hindsight is twenty-twenty?”
He nodded.
“Well, looking back, I should’ve gotten Cat and just left right then and there. If I had just walked away ...” I looked up at the ceiling and swallowed hard, trying my best to push back the tears. Once I’d collected myself, I turned my attention back to Thatch. “Trevor followed me back into the house, and I knew right away that he was on something. His eyes were glazed over, and he was all over the place. I’d seen him like that so many times before, and I just wanted to get the hell out of there.”
My memories started taking hold, ripping at me and the walls I’d worked so hard to put up, and it was getting harder and harder to keep my tears at bay. Seeing that I was struggling, Thatch leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m right here. Just take your time.”
I nodded, then after a few moments, I continued, “I told him I was leaving, but he wasn’t having it. He started yelling, throwing things, and acting completely irrational. Like I mentioned, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before, so I thought I could talk to him and get him to settle down. I was wrong. I was so very wrong.”
My entire body tensed. “I’d never seen him behave the way he did before that day. He was so angry and became more irate by the second. I kept trying to reason with him, but I was only making him madder, especially when I tried to explain why I was leaving.”
“He was too out of it to listen?”
“Oh yeah. When I brought up the drug use, he completely lost it. He started spouting off, saying I was the reason why he was addicted to drugs. And the crazy thing? A part of me believed him when he said those things to me. Though, I didn’t let him know that. I told him right off the bat that he was wrong, and our fight went south from there.”
I’d put up a good fight, but the tears finally broke free.
One by one, they trickled down my cheeks.
Not wanting to break down completely, I quickly wiped them away and cleared my throat, pushing them back once more. “I don’t even know where he got the knife. I just remember seeing it in his hand and the look in his eyes when he charged at me. I didn’t even have time to react before I was on the floor with him on top of me.”
Thatch’s expression was filled with anguish as he listened. “The first time Trevor stabbed me, I don’t think I even felt it. I was in complete shock. I couldn’t believe he would ever do something so horrible, but when he stabbed me the second and then the third time, I felt those—no doubt about it. I tried to fight him, but he was just too strong. He stabbed me once more, and that’s when Cat ran into the room.”
More tears streamed down my face as I continued, “Trevor was out of his mind when he turned the knife on her. He didn’t know what he was doing, but the second he realized what he’d just done, he bolted. He left us both there to die. Thankfully, my neighbor heard the commotion and came over to check on us. Thank God he did because we wouldn’t have survived if he hadn’t.”
The worst of the memories was over. “I knew once Henry had found us, there was a good chance Cat would be okay, and that was the only thing that mattered to me. He called an ambulance and the police, and the rest is history.”